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COMMUNION. 



TKEATISE ON CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP 



WITH 



GOD AND HIS SAINTS. 



M 



Eev. loyal VoUNG, D.D., 

Author of "Commentary on Ecclesiastes," etc. 




PHILADELPHIA ! 
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATIOlSr, 

1334 CHESTNUT STREET* 



/V/ 






6o| 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by 

THE TRUSTEES OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 

In the oflSce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Westcott & Thomson, 
Stereotypers, Philada. 



TO 

ALL THOSE WHO 
LONG FOR MORE INTIMATE COM- 
MUNION WITH GOD AND HIS PEOPLE, AND 
ARE IN SYMPATHY WITH THAT SPIRIT OF FELLOW- 
SHIP WHICH IS MORE AND MORE PERVAD- 
ING THE CHRISTIAN WORLD, THIS 
LITTLE WORK IS 

PEDICATED, 

BY ONE WHO DESIRES A HUMBLE PLACE 
AMONG THE:M, now, AND IN 

GLORY. 



PREFATOEY. 



The law of communion or attraction pervades 
the universe. In inanimate things it is attrac- 
tiorij in rational and sentient beings it is commu- 
hion. It exists in the grain of sand that seeks 
the bosom of the earth ; in the bird gathering 
her nestlings under her wings; in the mother 
and child clasping each other in warm embrace ; 
and in God stooping from his high abode to con- 
verse with and comfort his children, while his 
children with joy run to his arms and call him 
Father ! 

From the simplest form of attraction in mere 
matter, through all the upward grades of vege- 
table and animal organizations and instincts and 
human love and fellowship, this attraction is 
seen and felt. But infinitely higher, purer, 
more joyful, is the religious fellowship that binds 
the Christian's heart to his God and to his fellow- 
Christian. It is of this communion that we de- 
1* 5 



6 PREFATOEY. 

sire to speak. It is this communion that we 
desire to know and experience. 

O God of love, draw the heart of the writer 
and the heart of the reader to thyself in pen- 
ning and perusing these lines, that the highest 
bliss known on earth may be theirs ! 

**Our fellowship," said the loving John, "is 
with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." 
He enjoyed social life. He had his circle of in- 
timate friends. In Jesus he found one worthy 
of all his love. He followed him joyfully. He 
heard his counsel with delight. He leaned upon 
his breast in the hour of formal communion as 
the child soothes its sorrows in the bosom of its 
loving mother. When Jesus left this beloved 
disciple in body they were still together in 
spirit, and John, like Enoch, walked with God, 
But John was not alone in this. All believers 
hold fellowship with the Father and the Son. 
Some live at home with God, communing with 
him from day to day. Others return only occa- 
sionally to his arms. But all true Christians 
have more or less of this sweet fellowship. They 
can say, ** Truly, our fellowship is with the 
Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." 



■ 



PEEFATORY. 



Sometimes there is darkness in the Christian's 
heart when he has been away from his home. 
Clouds gather in his horizon. The storm is upon 
him. All the waves and billows go over him. 
But the storm does not continue alway. The 
Sun of Eighteousness again arises with healing 
in his beams. Sad is the state of that man who 
has no ray of his Father's presence falling upon 
his heart, no spiritual comfort, no communion 
with God. The Christian communing with his 
God, and the unconverted sinner in his native 
darkness, differ as do two travelers; the one 
walks cheerfully onward in the bright day-time 
of spring, through a beautiful landscape, amid 
cheerful flowers and the joyful songsters of the 
grove, the spicy breezes fanning his cheeks and 
the gurgling brooks making music at his side ; 
the other plods his way in darkness, the wild 
beasts howling around him and thunders rever- 
berating above him. Light is sown for the 
righteous, but the wicked walk in darkness be- 
cause they hate the light. 



COMMUNION. 



CHAPTER I. 

man's need of communion. 

r I IHOSE who choose a solitary life 
-^ are exceptions to the general rule. 
They are induced to seek retirement 
from society either from disappointed 
hopes or from religious fanaticism. 
Monks and nuns seek separation from 
society on the ground that they can 
thereby escape the contamination of the 
world. But such separation ignores the 
constitution and instincts of the human 
mind and heart. Under the pretext of 
seeking the good of their own souls, 



10 COMMUNION. 

these recluses make void the law of love 
to their neighbors. They are imbedded 
in the deep of their own selfishness, 
away from the touch of human sym- 
pathy. Spiritual pride generally lies 
at the foundation of monasteries and 
convents. 

There is also an involuntary separa- 
tion from society in the solitary con- 
finement of criminals which, for the 
same reason, may be condemned. It is 
at war with the sympathies of life. To 
be shut out from these, to have no word 
of cheer, no look of affection, no token 
of regard, is to be like Cain driven out 
from the presence of God and man. 
It may well be doubted whether solitary 
confinement for more than a very short 
period is proper in any case. Some 
kind of sympathy is essential to the 
mental and moral faculties. Bad men 



COMMUNION. 11 

need it to reform them, good men need 
it to make tliem better. Even para- 
dise itself was incomplete in happiness 
till man had a companion to share 
his joys and to commune with him. 
"It is not good that man should be 
alone." 

The two earliest institutions (arising 
from the nature and necessities of man) 
were marriage and the Sahhath. Mar- 
riage was appointed that there might 
be communion between kindred hearts, 
and the Sabbath was appointed that 
there might be time and oj)portunity 
for communion with God. Communion 
with man is not suflEicient. Even spir- 
itual communion with man, sweet as it 
is, does not satisfy the heart. We have 
need of higher succor. We need some 
One, in the hour of despondency and 
grief, that can know all our difficulties, 



12 COMMUNION. 

and that can bring relief. "We need a 
Being of infinite love and comj)assion 
to stand by us and say, " Fear not, I 
am with thee." The visible world and 
human society will not suffice. They 
cannot always respond to our calls, 
and when we call their responses are 
not such as we need. Sometimes their 
answers chill our hearts, sometimes 
they mock us with mere promises 
which are never fulfilled. In the hour 
of peril they fail us, 

"The friends that in our sunshine live 
When winter comes are flown." 

Or if these friends are true and trust- 
worthy, still they do not fully satisfy. 
As the child playing with its compan- 
ions becomes weary and often comes 
back to receive the smiles and caresses 
of a fond parent^ so man is not fully 



COMMUNION. 13 

happy in liis fellows, but must come, in 
the intervals of his converse with them, 
and run to his heavenly Father's arms, 
or be unhappy. In the sunshine of 
earthly prosperity he may for a time 
forget his Maker, his Saviour, but 
when the night of adversity shuts him 
out from his business and earthly pleas- 
ures, he must nestle, as does the child 
at night, on a parent's breast. 

It aflfbrds no objection to this view of 
the subject that the wicked shun their 
Maker, that they say to him, " Depart 
from us, we desire not the knowledge 
of thy ways." Though they look upon 
God as their enemy, and therefore seek 
to hide themselves from his presence, 
still they feel their need of a friend. 
Cain did not love God, but when driven 
out from his presence said that his 
punishment was greater than he could 



14 COMMXTNIOISr. 

bear. He needed a friend, but he dared 
not approach the only one that could 
forgive, strengthen and comfort him. 
So it is with all that love not God. 
They feel that they need a friend, but 
when God is forced upon their thoughts, 
as he is by his providence, his word or 
his Spirit, they resist. The dormant 
serpent in their breast is warmed into 
life and activity. The little volcano in 
their hearts, so long concealed and un- 
suspected, bursts forth, sometimes into 
bitter and even profane words of im- 
patience and rebellion. Sometimes the 
fire of persecution has been kindled by 
the fire in their bosoms to consume 
those who bear the image of God and 
espouse his cause. But do they not 
feel their need? Yes, verily. They 
know themselves to be unhappy, and 
fear a terrible future. They long for a 



COMMUNION". 15 

friend who can give tliem peace and 
satisfy the cravings of their souls. 

We would gladly convince such that 
the God whom they so much fear is 
just the Being whose friendship they 
need. "We would persuade them to 
come to his mercy-seat. The " seat of 
dreadful wrath that shot devouring 
flame" becomes a throne of mercy. 
Oh, let those that thirst for peace and 
have it not, who long for a Helper but 
fear to approach him, remember that 
God will be their never-failing Friend 
if they are willing to be reconciled to 
him. The child of God has found to 
his joy that his Father smiles upon 
him. When he has no evidence of this 
he is troubled. His heart sinks, and 
he says, " Oh that it were as in days 
past! Oh that I could again enjoy 
the presence of my beloved!" "I 



I6t COMMUNION. 

Charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, 
if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him 
that I am sick of love." 

Heaven itself would fail to be heaven 
if our sympathizing Saviour should be 
absent from the place. 

" Not all the harps above 

Would make a heavenly place, 
If God his residence remove, 
Or but conceal his face." 

What would be the flowers, and green 
fields, and gushing fountains, and streets 
of gold, and gates of pearl and rainbow 
hues, which poetry has ascribed to 
heaven, were we called to enjoy them 
alone, or if Jesus were not there to 
lead us to the fountains of living 
waters ? Heaven would be but a deso- 
lation. The longing heart would cry 
out for fellowship. 

Philosophers and others have intel- 



COMMUNIOIS", 17 

lectual communion, and they prize it 
highly. God is seen in all his works, 
but his heart is not felt to throb with 
sympathy and his smile is not seen by 
the mere philosopher. The heavens 
are the work of his fingers, his foot- 
prints are seen on the earth, and light 
is his glorious garment. The moun- 
tains and seas and tempests are proofs 
that he has been working. But to look 
upon all these with the highest admira- 
tion does not satisfy the heart longing 
for sympathy. 

A child enters the room of his absent 
mother. The traces of her work are 
there. Her sewing is on the stand. 
Some viands recently prepared are on 
the table. Her slippers are on the mat. 
But nothing but the sweet voice and 
welcoming smile will satisfy the son 
of her heart. He may partake of the 

2* 



18 COMMUNION. 

food prepared by her hand, he may 
rest upon the mat beside her slippers, 
but he is lonesome. The living voice 
is absent, silence reigns in the hall 
and no kiss of aJBfection soothes him, 
for mother is gone. So many a phil- 
osopher, many a sage, sees the foot- 
prints of his Maker in the works which 
he studies with so much enthusiasm, 
he even partakes with zest of his 
bounties and enjoys his gifts ; but he 
has no evidence that God smiles com- 
placently upon him. He runs not to 
his arms. His heart is desolate. 

These learned men who admire God's 
works, but who have no sweet commu- 
nion with him in prayer and in his word, 
are to be pitied. Their Parent is 
always absent. If they go forward he 
is not there, if backward they cannot 
perceive him; on the left hand, where 



COMMUNION. 19 

he doth work, they cannot behold him ; 
he hideth himself on the right hand, 
that they cannot see him. Job xxiii. 
8, 9. They see his garments, his foot- 
prints, but cannot converse with him. 
Astronomy, geology, all the sciences, 
show God's handiwork. But we can- 
not be content with these mere traces 
of the great Maker. 

" The ocean's caverns, crags that pierce the sky, 
Majestic trees, the human form erect. 
The worlds on worlds that round about us lie, 
Oh let me look upon the Architect." 

Let us come to him, and talk with 
him, and hear his kind words of sym- 
pathy bidding us trust in him. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE OBSTACLES TO COMMUNION. 

TO deter us from communion with 
God the law rears its head stern 
and dark with frowns. The giving of 
the law was accompanied with clouds 
and darkness, with thunderings and 
tempests. Well might Moses say, " I 
exceedingly fear and quake.'' And 
if such terror fell upon a heart so filial 
and so good, well may unreconciled 
transgressors quail. Man has broken 
God's holy law, and how can he come 
before him? The first efiect of a 
breach of law is to separate the trans- 
gressor from his ruler. ^^ The wicked 

20 



COMMUNION. 21 

flee when no man pursueth." Adam 
had no sooner transgressed the law 
than he sought to hide himself from 
the presence of the Lord. Thus all 
transgressors say unto God, "Depart 
from us : we desire not the knowledge 
of thy ways." 

Look at those two boys. Their 
father has been absent. When he left 
home he gave them the parting kiss 
and bade them to be kind and good till 
his return. They must not pluck the 
fruit. They must not wander far 
away. On his arrival at home one 
runs to his arms and looks up into his 
eyes with conscious innocence. The 
other stands at a distance with down- 
cast eyes, or slinks away from his pres- 
ence. Why this difference ? Ah, the 
latter has been disobedient ; he cannot 
meet his father's searching eye. He 



22 COMMUNION. 

has broken the law and cannot meet 
the lawgiver. He cannot commune 
with him while his guilt is upon him. 
He separates himself. This seems to 
be a uiiiversal law, that the transgressor 
cannot commune with the ruler. On 
this ground Satan was banished from 
heaven. On this ground Adam was 
driven from paradise, the place where 
God had often met with him in loving 
converse. For this reason Cain was 
driven out from the presence of the 
Lord. And on this ground the right- 
eous and wicked will be separated on 
the day of judgment, and the wicked 
will be separated from God. This will 
be "everlasting destruction from the 
presence of the Lord and the glory of 
his power." 

But there cannot be fellowship be- 
tween the sinner and God, because their 



COMMUNION. 23 

characters are wholly unlike. Even 
apart from the idea of law and retribu- 
tion, the natural man cannot have fel- 
lowship with God. ^^ What fellowship 
hath righteousness with unrighteous- 
ness ? and what communion hath light 
with darkness? and what concord hath 
Christ with Belial ? or what part hath 
he that believeth with the infidel ? and 
what agreement hath the temple of 
God with idols?" Hence the unre- 
newed cannot enter heaven. " Except 
a man be born again, he cannot see the 
kingdom of God." "Can two walk 
together except they be agreed ?" God 
says of the wicked, "My soul loathed 
them, and their soul abhorred me." 

A plan must therefore be devised to 
bring parties so estranged together. 
This was the great problem of the uni- 
verse. Is there any way of quenching 



24 COMMUNION. 

the flames of Sinai? Can tlie moun- 
tains that stand between God and man 
be removed? "Wherewith shall I 
come before the Lord, and bow before 
the Most High God?" What price 
shall I bring? What deed of merit 
shall I perform ? Tell me, ye angels, 
if ye have the secret committed to you, 
how can God be just, and yet receive 
the sinner ? The angels answer not. 



\Af 



CHAPTER III. 

THE WAY TO SECUEE COMMUXION. 

THE angels are silent, but God has 
spoken ! His provision for relief 
is ample and remarkable. "He will 
turn again, lie will have compassion 
upon us, lie will subdue our iniquities ; 
and tbou wilt cast all tbeir sins into tlie 
depths of the sea.'* 

To save rebellious man and bring 
him again to his Father's arms there 
was early preparation- work in heaven. 
For removing the great mountains 
which stood between God and man it 
required the wisdom and love and 
power of God. There were two diffi- 
culties in the way. The legal difficulty 

3 25 

I 



26 coMMUNioisr. 

had to be removed by meeting in some 
way the demands of the law, and 
man's alienated affections had to be 
brought back to God. 

To remove the first great obstacle, to 
satisfy the demands of the law, a cov- 
enant was entered into by such parties 
as were certain to keep it. It is called 
"the covenant of redemption." It is not, 
perhaps, too fanciful to suppose that a 
vast assembly was called together (if 
angels existed before men). God the 
Father, on his glorious throne, an- 
nounces to the myriads of beings 
around him, to thrones, dominions, 
principalities and powers, that when 
man shall be created and shall sin, the 
glorious Son, now present before them 
in all the greatness of his underived 
divinity, shall in the fullness of time 
leave those seats of bliss, shall throw 



COMMUNION"- 27 

aside those robes of glory and descend 
to earth, taking upon him the nature 
of man, there to die, like one of 
Adam's meanest and vilest children, on 
the cross of a criminal, suffering unut- 
terable pangs ! If Gabriel, in wonder, 
should ask the reason, we may suppose 
that God would answer, " Thus far I 
permit you to know, that sin deserves 
eternal death, separating the sinner 
from his Maker for ever. But I seek a 
reconciliation. I choose to raise many 
of the fallen race to these beloved seats 
of bliss where ye now admire, adore 
and praise. To accomplish this my 
darling Son must die ! I leave you to 
learn the rest by visiting the earth and 
the abodes of men, by witnessing the 
worship of the Jews, their lambs and 
bullocks bleeding and smoking on the 
altar, their types and ceremonies point- 



28 COMMUNION 

ing to a future Deliverer. Go, when 
Immanuel shall be born, and announce 
his birth in songs of praise. Watch 
him as he grows to manhood, witness- 
ing his spotless life, his violent death, 
his rising, his ascension, and sing again 
as you escort him to heaven, ' Lift up 
your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted 
up, ye everlasting doors, and the King 
of glory shall come in.' By the ut- 
terances of his own lips, and by a 
preached gospel, and by the millions of 
converted, redeemed sinners brought 
back to God, and also by the glorious 
company of the ransomed met in 
heaven, when the head of my Son shall 
be crowned with a diadem of glory, ye 
shall learn the deep mystery of re- 
demption. Till then, wait in patient 
expectation.'' 

Accordingly, the world is made and 



COMMUNIOIS^ 29 

fitted up as the residence of man, and 
all the sons of God shout for joy. 
Man is created in the image of God, 
and enters upon his endless existence. 
But, lo ! the tempter comes and ruins 
the first pair, and with them all their 
posterity. Man becomes a miserable 
object, a criminal, a rebel, alienated 
from his God. Could angels weep, they 
would now drop tears of sorrow. But 
they listen; words of mysterious im- 
port fall upon their ears: "The seed 
of the woman shall bruise the serpent's 
head." Soon the blood of animals 
flows on a thousand altars, betokening 
some greater sacrifice. As years and 
centuries roll on the fullness of time 
arrives. Jesus is born. The angels, 
having anxiously looked for this event, 
learn its arrival. All entranced with 
joy, they sing, " Glory to God in the 

3* 



30 COMMUNION. 

highest, on earth peace, good-will to 
men." Jesus increases in stature, and 
at the age of thirty years enters u|)on 
his ministerial work. He obeys the 
law for man. He represents all who 
believe on him, and for them fulfills all 
righteousness. The law which man 
broke he keeps, and as the last great 
crowning work of his life he bears the 
sin of man upon the cross, which 
crushes him down to death. The debt 
which man owed and could not pay is 
paid by his great Substitute. Those 
who receive him as their Saviour are 
now justified and have peace with God. 
They can meet him now, and he w^ears 
no frown upon his face. Jesus' right- 
eousness is set over to our account, and 
our debt is paid. 

Thus the legal difiiculty is removed 
by our blessed Surety. He became a 



COMMUNION. 31 

curse for us. Here is the glorious doc- 
trine of justification. Jesus now sym- 
pathizes with us and introduces us again 
to God's favor and love. 

But the other great obstacle must be 
removed. Man's alienated affections 
must be brought back to God. The 
heart must be renewed. This is espe- 
cially the work of the Holy Spirit. He 
convinces of sin, he leads to Christ. 
The work which he commences he 
carries forward from step to step, till 
the renewed heart is complete in holi- 
ness and made '' meet for the inherit- 
ance of the saints in light." Our par- 
tial sanctification here enables us to 
enjoy God's presence to some extent. 
"We see as through a glass, darkly," 
but we continue to look, and we are 
drawn as with the cords of love. "We 
all, with open face beholding as in a 



82 COMMUIS-IOX. 

glass the glory of the Lord, are 
changed into the same image, from 
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of 
the Lord." Communion assimilates. 
The contemplation of divine truth tends 
to sanctify. Our Saviour prays, " Sanc- 
tify them through thy truth ; thy word 
is truth." The sinner, renewed by 
the Spirit, begins to commune with 
God. But communion is interrupted 
by remaining depravity. As this is 
removed more and more, communion 
becomes more and more intimate, till, 
ripe for glory, the Christian goes to 
dwell in God's presence where is fullness 
of joy, and at his right hand where are 
pleasures for evermore. Thus God the 
Son and God the Holy Spirit co-operate 
to remove the obstacles in the way of 
our communion with the Father. 



CHAPTER ly. 

THE EVIDENCE OF OUR COMMUNION WITH 
GOD. 

"IVTEARLY all our evidences of 
-l--^ piety consist in evidences of love 
to God and communion with him. In 
prayer, in praise, in reading and hear- 
ing God's word, we commune with him. 
In prayer and praise we talk to God. 
In our reading and hearing God's word 
he talks to us. If this converse is 
sweet to us, we have evidence that we 
love him. If not, the evidence is 
against us. If we love the company of 
any human being, it is an evidence that 
we love him. So if we love the com- 
pany of God we love himself. 

S3 



34 coMMUNioisr. 

Who can doubt that Mary, who sat 
at Jesus' feet and heard his words, truly 
loved her heavenly Friend ? Every 
one now loving to converse with him 
through the medium of his ordinances 
is a child of God. Communion is our 
best evidence of piety. The Lord's 
Supper is called communion. In this 
holy ordinance God comes near and 
talks with us. Do we love to hear 
him talk ? Then we have the evidence 
of our being his children. 

The first Epistle of John dwells 
much on the evidences of piety. The 
writer begins by telling us how he had 
heard and seen and taken by the 
hand Jesus the word of life. He tells 
of his continued fellowship with the 
Father and the Son, and how others 
might have the same fellowship. He 
shows that those who walk in darkness, 



COMMUNIOIf. 35 

without the light of God's presence, 
can lay no claim to having fellowship. 
He shows that obedience gives access to 
God, and consequently happiness. He 
says, " We know that we know him if 
we keep his commandments." As the 
obedient child is happy in his father's 
presence, so if we are the obedient chil- 
dren of God we delight in his visits of 
love. These lessen our attachment to 
the world, and the world knows us not 
because it does not know Christ, whose 
image we bear. We love to commune 
also with our fellow-Christians. " We 
know that we have passed from death 
unto life, because we love the breth- 
ren." Here is the communion and fel- 
lowship with God and with the breth- 
ren spoken of, and we understand 
thereby our true relation to God. 
" Love is of God, and every one that 



36 COMMUNION. 

lovetli is born of God and knoweth 
God. He tliat loveth not knoweth not 
God, for God is love.'' Again, "Here- 
by know we that we dwell in him and 
he in us, because he hath given us of 
his Spirit." "God is love, and he that 
dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and 
God in him." 

Such are the precious teachings of 
God's word by which we learn that 
fellowship is the best evidence of our 
being God's children. Delighting in 
God's ordinances, in communion, in 
serving him, in his people, we find 
that we delight in himself, that we 
are of his family and preparing to 
enjoy his heaven. 

Next to the first Epistle of John, the 
Song of Solomon is the book which 
speaks most of communion. It is a 
sacred allegory, in which the love and 



COMMUNION. 37 

communion of Christ and his Church 
are set forth under the emblem of the 
Beloved and his Spouse, with their mu- 
tual expressions of endearment and 
desire for each other's company. They 
speak each of the other's beauty. 
They invite each the other to walk in 
the fields and vineyards. 

"My beloved spake," says the spouse, 
"and said unto me. Rise up, my love, 
my fair one, and come away. For lo, 
the winter is past ; the rain is over and 
gone ; the flowers appear on the earth ; 
the time of the singing of birds is 
come and the voice of the turtle is heard 
in the land. The fig tree putteth forth 
her green figs, and the vines with the 
tender grape give a good smell. Arise, 
my love, my fair one, and come away." 
She invites him to walk with her 
in the field and vineyards. "Come, 



^ COMMUNIOjS-. 

my beloved, let us go forth into the 
field, let us lodge in the villages. Let 
us get up early to the vineyards, let us 
see if the vine flourish, whether the 
tender grape appear, and the pome- 
granates bud forth ; there will I give 
thee my loves." She asks him to tell 
her where he feeds his flock, for she 
would not turn aside from the same. 
He calls her to eat and drink with him, 
and she tells of his bringing her into 
his banqueting-house, his banner over 
her being love. She sits under his 
shadow with great delight, and his 
fruit is sweet to her taste. In the wil- 
derness she leans upon his arm, and 
when he withdraws she seeks him, sor- 
rowing till she finds him. 

Do we thus love to walk with Jesus, 
to lean upon him coming up from the 
wilderness, to follow his flock and feed 



COMMUOTON, 39 

with them, to enter his banqueting- 
house, to eat of his precious fruit, to sit 
under his shadow ? Then we have ev- 
idence that we are his people. If his 
absence is painful to us, we have the 
same evidence. 

To be more particular, faith is a 
prominent evidence of our piety. But 
what is faith? It is a grasping of 
Christ's hand for help, a leaning upon 
his arm, like the spouse, upon his 
bosom, like John. It is a coming to 
him for peace. It is high communion ! 
Repentance is a prominent evidence. 
But what is repentance but a return 
from wandering ? What is it but the 
prodigal coming home to his father's 
house? What is it but a sorrowing 
heart seeking solace in One that it has 
wronged? Love is a prominent evi- 
dence, but love is the very essence of 



40 COMMUNION. 

communion. New obedience is an evi- 
dence, but new obedience is an obedi- 
ence flowing from love ; it is coming 
back to God and to duty with a loving, 
filial heart. Hope looks forward to 
more intimate communion. Joy arises 
from a sense of God's presence. Peace 
is the fruit of reconciliation to God. 
Thus all Christian graces, all Christian 
evidences, tend to this one great centre, 
COMMUNION. Heaven is unalloyed, un- 
interrupted communion. 

If, then, doubting heart, you would 
know whether you have passed from 
death unto life, ask whether you love 
to be with God, to talk with him, to 
cast your cares upon him, to have him 
as your chief portion for life, for death, 
for eternity. Can you say with the 
Psalmist, " "Whom have I in heaven 
but thee ? and there is none on earth 



COMMUNION. 4i 

that I desire in comparison with tliee ?'* 
Are the courts of God's house desir- 
able because his presence is there ? 

On the other hand, are your sorrow- 
ful hours those in which your heavenly 
Friend is absent? Do you cry with 
Job, '' Oh that I knew where I might 
find him " ? Let God be present to my 
heart and all is well. 

4* 




CHAPTER V. 

THE HISTORY OF COMMUNION. 

TO give the full history of commu- 
nion would be to reproduce the 
history of all saints in all ages of the 
world. It would be to follow every re- 
deemed sinner, from the moment of his 
conversion, through all the chequered 
scenes of his earthly pilgrimage, till he 
basks in the full sunshine of his Sa- 
viour's love in heaven. It would be to 
follow him thither, also, into that ever- 
lasting bliss which flows from the pres- 
ence of his God. But we may look at 
a few points in this history for our in- 
struction and encouragement. 

In paradise, before the Fall, Adam 

42 



COMMUNION. 43 

and Eve had sweet communion with 
God. They could talk with their 
Maker as with a loving father who 
had a heart to beat in unison with 
theirs. How long they enjoyed the 
bliss is not on record. Sin drove them 
from his presence. They sought to 
hide themselves from Him with whom 
they had loved to commune. 

Enoch ^^ walked with God, and he 
was not, for God took him." It is al- 
together probable that the most of his 
life was spent in intimate fellowship 
with God. It is expressly said that he 
walked with God three hundred of the 
three hundred and sixty-five years of 
his life. During that long period his 
advancement in piety must have been 
great. We may view him as having a 
joyful and benignant countenance, his 
eye beaming with hope and his heart 



44 COMMUNION. 

gushing with love. As he stepped forth 
the wicked cowered before him and the 
righteous greeted him with joy. Chil- 
dren bowed with reverence, yet were 
not afraid of his approach. It is not 
strange that God took him to a higher 
communion. He now walks with God 
in the full light of heaven. 

Of Noah it is also said, " He walked 
with God." During all the period of 
that expected storm, and when it came 
in its terrible fury, sweeping to destruc- 
tion a wicked world, he was calm and 
joyful in his God, for he had sheltered 
himself beneath the wings of everlast- 
ing love, and he held sweet converse 
with his heavenly Father. 

Abraham's altars, erected through 
the land of Canaan, testified how he 
loved to commune with his covenant 
God. This made him strong in faith, 



COMMUNION. 45 

SO that his obedience was unreserved in 
the most terrible trial. 

Isaac meditated at eventide, and also 
built altars to his father's God. 

Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the 
Covenant, and said to him, " I will not 
let thee go except thou bless me." He 
also vowed and said, ''If God will he 
with me, and keep me in this way that 
I go, and will give me bread to eat, and 
raiment to put on, so that I come to my 
father's house in peace ; then shall the 
Lord be my God." 

Of Joseph it is said, " The Lord was 
with Joseph." Had he not enjoyed 
fellowship with God, his trials had cer- 
tainly crushed his heart. 

Moses said to God, "Except thy 
presence go with me, send us not up 
thither." God said to him, " My pres- 
ence shall go with thee, and I will 



46 COMMUNIOIS', 

grant thee peace." And lie " talked to 
God face to face, as a man talketh with 
his friend.'' Hannah communed with 
God in secret prayer. David's Psalms 
breathe the very spirit of fellowship. 
Listen to his devotions : " In thy pres- 
ence is fullness of joy; at thy right 
hand there are pleasures forevermore." 
'^ The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, 
and my deliverer; my God, my 
strength, in whom will I trust; my 
buckler and the horn of my salvation 
and my high tower." 

The prophets had communion with 
God. The apostles enjoyed his pres- 
ence. Paul was caught up into paradise, 
and heard unspeakable words. But 
God communed with him in his daily 
work also. He could say, " Blessed be 
the God of all comfort who comforteth 
us in all our tribulation, that we may 



COMMUNION. 47 

be able to comfort tliem which are in 
any trouble by the comfort wherewith 
we are comforted of God." 

The martyrs at the stake and in the 
amphitheatre had the presence of God 
to such an extent as to enable them to 
endure the flames and sing praises in 
death. In all Christian churches, to 
this hour, God's people have had certain 
evidence of his presence, while their 
hearts burned within them as he opened 
to them the Scriptures and made him- 
self known in the breaking of bread. 

But the history of fellowship is only 
begun. The story can be told by the 
^^just made perfect" in the mansions 
above when they shall recount together 
how God in infinite love stooped to lead 
them through the wilderness below, 
taking away their griefs and giving 
them foretastes of the fruit of Canaan. 



CHAPTER yi. 

THE CONSUMMATION OF COMMUNION. 

nnHE cousummation of communion 
-L is in reserve. The foretastes are 
sweet, like the grapes of Eshcol to those 
traveling to Canaan. But the full feast 
awaits us in the true Canaan. 

Sometimes the gates of heaven are so 
much "ajar" as to allow the light to 
come streaming down upon the soul of 
the believer, especially as his earthly 
tabernacle is dissolving, but perfect 
communion is reserved for the light and 
glory of heaven. If God's children, 
we have been "delivered from the 
power of darkness and translated into 
the kingdom of God's dear Son.'' But 

48 



COMMUXIOX. 49 

though we live in the kingdom of light, 
it is in a distant province, and not at the 
cajDital where our King resides ; he has 
not yet sent his chariot to take us home. 
When we arrive at the place of his 
glorious residence we shall see him as 
he is. There his people are fully sat- 
isfied. " They hunger no more, neither 
thirst any more, for the Lamb who is 
in the midst of the throne shall feed 
them, and lead them to living foun- 
tains of water; and God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes." 
*'They follow the Lamb whitherso- 
ever he goeth." From the time that 
they hear the sentence, "Come, ye 
blessed," there will be the uninterrupt- 
ed fellowship with Christ and with each 
other. Jesus now prays for his people : 
" Father, I will that those whom thou 
hast given me be with me where I am, 



h 



60 COMMUNION. 

that they may behold my glory." "So 
shall we be ever with the Lord." " In 
thy presence is fullness of joy, and at 
thy right hand are pleasures for ever- 
more." 

As we get near the throne, " which 
is to look upon as a jasper and as a 
sardine stone, and in sight like unto an 
emerald," the lustre of earthly beauty 
grows dim. Earthly honors fade. As 
we hear the "harpers harping with 
their harps " and the voice of singing 
as the voice of many waters, all earth- 
ly joys will be forgotten. As we turn 
and gaze upon the Fountain of lights, 
the brightest earthly glory fades away 
as stars hide themselves in the light of 
the rising sun. Fellowship with the 
Father and his Son Jesus Christ our 
Lord will be the sunshine of the heart 
for ever. 



COMMUNIOlSr. 51 

Heaven is not merely a rest, it is a 
rest in God. It is a rest with God's 
people where they shall see each other 
and rejoice together in fellowship. 
Deliverance from conflicts, cares and 
sins will not be the main ingredient in 
the cup of enjoyment. Not to be " ab- 
sent from the body/' from pain and 
sorrow, but to be ^^ present with the 
Lord," will be the great spring of de- 
light. Whether there will be diversi- 
ties of tastes and employments among 
" the white-robed throng " has not been 
clearly revealed. But " as the cheru- 
bim and seraphim are supposed to have 
their separate and appropriate offices, 
though all stand round the throne, so 
may we expect that holy engagements 
will be distributed in amazing diversity 
among '' the just made perfect." Some 
may be quicker to discern, others may 



52 COMMUNION. 

be more prompt to do. Some may dive 
deeper into the study of God's attri- 
butes, and some into the study of his 
works, but whatever they study, 
whatever they do, they cannot wander 
from their blessed Lord. His presence 
will furnish the stimulus and j&ll the 
cup of their joy. 

The communion will not be inter^ 
rupted by sin or sloth. Here there is 
much to mar the fellowship of Chris- 
tians with their Lord and with each 
other. Those that communed on earth, 
but often with some degree of coldness 
and mistrust, will commune without the 
shadow of a misgiving. Myriads who 
never met on earth, who never heard 
of each other, but who were united in 
one common Lord, shall learn the story 
of each other's rescue, and conversion, 
and enjoyments, and struggles, and 



COMMUNION. 53 

fears, and hopes on earth, and new 
friendships will be formed as lasting as 
eternity. 

Methinks I hear the redeemed above 
conversing about the way in which they 
were led and sustained and comforted 
on earth. One tells how he, the chief 
of sinners, was arrested in his down- 
ward career, running away from God 
and peace ; how he was constrained by 
divine grace to arise and go to his Fa- 
ther, who received the wanderer with 
affectionate embrace. Another tells 
how he walked with God when all 
earthly sympathy failed him. Another 
recounts his joyful communion seasons, 
when Jesus took him into his banquet- 
ing-house and his banner over him was 
love. Another tells how Jesus met 
him as darkness gathered over his eyes, 
as heart failed, as the lungs ceased to 

5* 



54 communiojS". 

receive the vital air, as lie sank away 
in the embrace of death ; how his Sa- 
viour whispered in his ear, '' Fear not, I 
am with thee ; be not dismayed, for I am 
thy God.'' Thus telling and hearing 
of themes of the past, they strike their 
harps and sing : '' To Him that loved 
us and washed us from our sins in his 
own blood be honor and power, praise 
and dominion for ever." Jesus and his 
salvation are the beginning and close of 
every song. 

But we speak as children, childishly, 
when we speak of the communion of 
heaven. We see "through a glass, 
darkly," but we shall see " face to face.'' 
Let us labor to enter into that rest lest 
any of you should seem to come short 
of it. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE lord's SUPPEE. 

rriHERE is one observance in the 
-^ Christian Church which more than 
any other cements Christian love and 
foreshadows the communion in glory. 
It is called by various names, but " com- 
munion" expresses its true object. It 
is the outward act by which the love 
and fellowship and flowing together of 
the heart of Christ and his people are 
represented and increased. 

Jesus has gone to his Father, and we 
cannot take him by the hand, or look 
into his loving eyes, or lean, like John, 
upon his breast, or anoint his feet, like 

55 



56 COMMUNIOiS". 

Mary ; but we can touch and taste and 
look upon those emblems which he has 
himself appointed to remind us of his 
love and of the place which we hold in 
his heart. In this holy communion 
Jesus sheds his graces into our hearts 
and comforts us with a sense of his 
spiritual presence. At his invitation 
we seat ourselves beside him, and he 
talks with us there. By his word and 
Spirit he abides with us, and by faith 
we abide with him. We commemorate 
what he has done and felt for us. We 
join ourselves to him in covenant and 
promise that his interest shall be our 
interest, that we will henceforth have 
with him but one aim, one mind, one 

joy. 

There is communion with all the 
saints, whether they are seated with us 
at the table or otherwise. There is 



COMMUNION. 57 

communion with '^all that in every 
place call on the name of Jesus Christ 
our Lord, both theirs and ours." He 
is their Lord, our Lord, the common 
Lord of all believers, and recognized as 
such in the communion. 

God's people are dispersed over the 
world. They cannot all meet together 
at one place. But though scattered and 
separated into different denominations, 
they commune together. They cannot 
do otherwise. The Spirit of their 
Master is in them all. They are united 
to him by a living faith, and are 
branches of the same vine, and have a 
common life. If they build up walls 
of separation and say to one another, 
" You cannot commune with us," still 
the Spirit unites them, and they cannot 
be separated. Nay, all the saints 
above have fellowship with all the 



58 COMMUNIOX, 

saints below, and there is but one com- 
munion. Visible communion can be 
broken, but the invisible cannot. As 
neither life, nor death, nor things pres- 
sent, nor things come to pass, can sep- 
arate God's peoi)le from his love, so 
no bars put up by Christians can sep- 
arate them spiritually from each other. 
The fruit on this side of the wall can- 
not say to the fruit on that side of the 
wall borne by the same vine, "We are 
separated and have no communion." 
The wall is a dead thing, while the vine 
and all the clusters, wherever they 
hang, are pervaded by the same life. 

Christians are all united by the same 
covenant and stamped with the image 
and superscription of Jesus Christ. In 
the Lord's Supper we " drink into one 
spirit." 

The question of '^ open communion " 



COMMUNION. 59 

and " close communion " is aJBfected by 
these considerations. Open communion 
is the free flow of the sap of the vine 
into the various branches. Close com- 
munion is an attempt to prevent or 
hinder that free flow. Close commu- 
nion intimates or asserts that the sap 
flowing into some branches is richer or 
more nourishing than that flowing into 
others. Those practicing close commu- 
nion seem to bandage their own branch 
to prevent the sap of the common trunk 
from flowing freely. They thus check 
their own growth and fruitfulness. 

The blood of the human body must 
flow freely to all the limbs, or there are 
paralysis and death. The assumption 
of close communion is an assumption 
that the other members do not belong 
to the body. And yet the most preju- 
diced will not advocate this doctrine. 



60 COMMUNION. 

They preach with others, they pray 
with others, they build no barrier be- 
tween themselves and others, except in 
the matter of sitting together at the 
Lord's table — that thing which indicates 
the very life-flow of the Church. They 
will allow the nerves of the body to 
vibrate together, but not the blood of 
the body to flow together. 

If there is any ordinance in which 
evangelical Christians should unite, it 
is the Lord's Supper. This is not 
an ordinance which should be used as a 
testimony against error. Let testimony 
be borne in preaching, but a sacrament 
whose very design is to draw Christian 
hearts together cannot be a testimony 
against Christians. Refusal to com- 
mune implies that there is not a com- 
mon Christian life. So we do refuse to 
commune with the ungodly world, with 



COMMUNIOiSr. 61 

those who deny the divinity of Christ, 
with those who hold to fatal error. 
And if we refuse to commune with our 
brethren of other evangelical denomi- 
nations, we put them in the same cate- 
gory. We say they are not the chil- 
dren of God. Though we may not 
mean to make so strong an assumption, 
it is virtually made. 

It is said that discipline cannot be 
maintained if we allow all to commune 
who are in regular standing in other 
evangelical churches — that we thus re- 
ceive to our communion persons who 
could not be taken into our own particu- 
lar church. But we receive them to the 
Lord's table by virtue of their connec- 
tion with churches over which we have 
no control. Theirs is the responsibility 
of retaining unworthy members. We 
are not responsible for the communing 



62 coMMUNioisr. 

of unconverted members, wlietlier in 
our own congregation, in another con- 
gregation in our own connection, or in 
a church of a different denomination. 
We may and ought to prune our own 
branches that they may be more fruit- 
ful. But the neglect of others to 
prune does not separate the whole 
branch from the vine. We do not 
sanction any of the errors of other 
churches by intercommunion, unless 
those errors strike at the foundation of 
our religion, unless they tend to uproot 
the vine itself. 

In our own church there may be 
false professors or those whose walk is 
not consistent, and if we will not com- 
mune till the church is rid of these, we 
shall for ever stand aloof from the 
Lord's table. Discipline should be en- 
forced by the proper authorities, but 



COMMUNION. 63 

we should not refuse to commune, and 
thus separate ourselves from Christ and 
his people, because there are unworthy 
members in the church. 

We may ask. What are the proper 
qualifications for coming to the Lord's 
table ? This question has j)ressed many 
hearts with a load of intense solicitude, 
and many answers have been given to 
it. The writer would direct the in- 
quirer's thoughts to a view of this sub- 
ject falling in with the general tenor of 
this book. Let the reader turn back to 
Chapter IV., The Evidences of Commu- 
nion. But that he may be more fully 
in possession of a method of self-exam- 
ination let him consider prayerfully the 
following questions. If he can honestly 
answer them in the affirmative, he has 
reason to consider himself a child of 
Ood, and entitled to a place with God's 



64 COMMUNION. 

people in visible communion. These 
questions are similar to those written by 
Dr. Griffin for the use of the students 
of Williams College more than forty 
years ago. 

Do I love God ? Do I love him for 
his holiness, justice and purity, as well 
as for his pardoning mercy? Am I 
glad that he is displeased with sin, even 
my sins, though he will pardon them 
through Christ ? Am I glad that God 
orders all things, and my interests as 
well as those of others? Am I sub- 
missive to his will in affl.iction, knowing 
that he acts the part of a kind Father 
in chastening his child ? Do I love to 
approach him in prayer, in praise, in 
reading and hearing his word ? Can I 
entrust all my interests into his hands 
for this world and the next ? Do I de- 
pend upon him for all needful grace to 



GOMMUNIOX. 65 

do the work required of me ? Do I 
greatly desire to see God honored by- 
all men ? Do I wish and determine to 
serve him for ever ? Do I love to com- 
mune with him in prayer ? Is it sweet 
to come to him and call him Father ? 
Am I thankful to God for life and its 
comforts, for his presence and promises? 
Do I feel incapable of making any com- 
pensation to God for his love and favor? 
Do I love God's law? Am I glad 
that he requires me to love him with 
all my powers, and my neighbor as my- 
self? Do I hate sin because it is 
against a good and holy God, and sep- 
arates from him ? Do I wish more to 
be free from sin than from poverty, 
sickness or any earthly affliction ? Do 
I long for holiness ? Is indwelling sin 
a burden to me ? Am I sorry for heart 
sins as well as sins more outward and 

6* 



66 COMMUNION. 

known to others? Do I love to re- 
pent? 

Have I, under a sense of my sins, 
cast myself upon Jesus for salvation? 
Do I believe that Jesus is the only Sa- 
viour, and an all-sufficient Saviour? 
Do I believe that his blood is sufficient 
to wash away the greatest sin ? Do I 
come to him for forgiveness ? Do I re- 
nounce all merit, and seek to be saved 
by grace alone ? Do I really depend 
upon Jesus^ death as the ground of my 
pardon? Do I hope for all good 
through his merits and prayers ? Do I 
feel that I may go to God through 
Christ, vile as I am ? Do I desire that 
all others should come and be saved ? 
Is Christ precious to my soul ? Do I 
count other things as dross in compari- 
son with him ? Does the cross crucify 
me to sin and the world? Do I feel 



COMMUNION. 67 

that I am not my own, but bought with 
a price for God ? 

Do I feel that I am dependent upon 
the Holy Spirit for all good desires? 
Do I try to avoid grieving the Spirit ? 
Do I desire to be led by the Spirit ? 
Do I ask him to enlighten, quicken and 
comfort me? Do I love the Lord's 
day? Do I love religious exercises? 
Do I love God's people ? Am I trying 
to do right in every respect ? 




CHAPTER yill, 

PBAYER IN VIEW OF COMMUNION, OB 
COMING TO THE LORD's TABLE. 

For the removal of obstacles to com- 
munion. 

MOST merciful God, thou hast 
taught me to call thee by the en- 
dearing name of Father. Why then 
hidest thou thy face from me ? Why 
standest thou afar off? When I cry, 
thou shuttest out my prayer. Alas, my 
sins have separated between thee and 
me, and caused thee to hide thy face 
from me. Against thee, thee only, have 
I sinned. Thy law is holy, just and 
good, but I have broken it. How canst 
thou be pleased with me, a vile trans- 



COMMUNION. 69 

gressor ? Thou art tlie best of Rulers, 
and I have been a rebellious subject. 
Tbou art the kindest of Fathers, and I 
have been a disobedient child. Thou 
hast been unwearied in thy care, and I 
have been full of ingratitude. But 
thou hast borne with me and not cut 
me off. It is of thy mercies that I am 
not consumed. Thou hast in kindness 
invited me to return to thee. How 
may I come ? How can this heart be 
reconciled to God ? How can I come 
to an offended Father? Wherewith 
shall I come before the Lord and bow 
before the Most High God? Lord, 
teach me the way ; show me thy paths. 
Take away the barriers by which I am 
shut out from thy presence. Let not the 
law terrify me and drive me from thy 
face. Lord, rebuke me not in thine 
anger, neither chasten me in thy hot 



70 COMMUNION. 

displeasure. Hast thou not laid help 
upon One who is mighty to save? 
Look, then, upon Jesus, who gave his 
soul a sacrifice for sin. Eemember his 
perfect righteousness. Save me, a poor 
sinner, through his blood. O Lord, I 
plead before thee the atonement as the 
ground of my acceptance. Clinging to 
the cross, thy justice will not smite me. 
The sword of vengeance cannot reach 
me here. It is here that I come and 
plead for pardon and salvation through 
the blood of Jesus. Blessed be thy 
name! thou art on thy mercy-seat. 
Thou hearest the cry of the desolate. 
Come, O Lord, and save me, for Jesus' 
sake. Leave me not in darkness with- 
out the tokens of thy presence. Re- 
move the corruptions of my heart that 
I may have fellowship with thee. 
Take from me all my transgressions 



COMMUKION. 71 

and own me as thy child. Whisper 
peace to this weary heart, and I will 
love and praise thee. Prepare me to 
come with thy people and sit as an 
accepted guest at thy table. Now, O 
Lord, accept my poor petitions through 
Jesus Christ my Saviour. Amen. 

On going to the Lord^s table. 

Thy people, O Lord, are about to 
gather around the sacred board and 
celebrate the love of our blessed Lord. 
Make me a welcome guest with them. 
Put upon me the wedding garment, the 
robe of righteousness. I will come in 
my Saviour's perfect robe. Clothed in 
this pure garment, thou wilt bid me 
welcome. But what am I that I should 
have communion with my brethren, my 
Saviour, my heavenly Father ? I am 
unworthy of this high privilege, for I 



72 GOMMUXION. 

have forfeited it by my sins. But it is 
to sinners that thou givest these great 
privileges. As a sinner I come and 
claim that Jesus died for sinners. God 
be merciful to me, a sinner ! Grant me 
the tokens of thy love, and be reconciled 
to me through Jesus Christ. Bless all 
thy people who are about to commune 
together. May we all be of one heart 
and one soul ! May our fellowship be 
with the Father and with his Son Jesus 
Christ! Enable us to love one another 
with a pure heart fervently. And 
make this communion a foretaste of the 
communion above, for Christ's sake. 
Amen. 



THE END. 






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